Stepping Stones: One Woman's Property Story

Ginetta Vedrickas
Friday 05 October 2001 00:00 BST
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Jackie Payne began life in Birmingham, but was always keen to leave the city, she says. "I wanted to get as far away as possible and had romantic notions about the South, particularly London, even though I'd only been there once on a school trip."

She eventually realised her ambition and, after leaving collegein the early Eighties, she moved to London. "I loved the excitement and the buzz and being young and foolish," she recalls. "I ignored the bad bits." The latter included some of the flats she found herself renting: "They were generally fairly squalid affairs, so when I got a council flat in Hackney it seemed I had finally arrived."

Jackie stayed in this flat for some years, until, in 1985, she and a friend decided to buy a place together. "I couldn't really see myself as a homeowner but, at the time, everyone was telling me it was the thing to do – so I did it." The one-bedroom garden flat (again in Hackney) cost £40,000. "The building society was keen to lend us more, but thankfully we decided not to overstretch ourselves. We were worried that we wouldn't be able to afford the mortgage repayments."

The newly converted flat was in good order, but Jackie lavished money upon it. "It was the first place I'd had to call my own and my delusions of grandeur were fully indulged," she laughs.

Over time Jackie saw the value of her flat soar and drop as a result of the wildly fluctuating interest rates of the era – "they almost saw me off" – but she was fortunate enough to buy out her friend during "a trough, not a peak". And by 1990 she was ready for a total change. "In the late Eighties the area had seemed to be on the up, but things hadn't improved that much and I got tired of the traffic, noise and general grime in Hackney."

She sold her flat for £89,950 and turned her attentions to north London where, after viewing "literally hundreds of flats", she paid £95,000 for a two-bedroom place in Highgate. "It was potentially lovely, but it needed some serious updating." Again Jackie spent time and money on improvements: "I bought lots of expensive wallpaper as I was sick and tired of painting walls."

Then in 1999 Jackie was once again on the move. "I'd got married and had a total change of lifestyle, so we decided to give it all up and move to France." They chosethe Pays de la Loire, where they bought a partially renovated farmhouse for £90,000. "It's been a wonderful adventure and we intend to stay here for as long as we can," she says. Jackie puts the farmhouse's current value at around £110,000, but the small increase is not a concern. "I know my old flat in Highgate has probably doubled in value by now, but profit was not our motive." However Jackie is about to buy an investment property in the area she was once desperate to escape – Birmingham. "When I visit I can't believe it's the same city I left. There are some wonderful developments and I think the boom is set to continue. Hopefully it will give us some security in our old age... and perhaps we'll even retire there."

Those moves in brief

1985 bought one-bedroom flat for £40,000, sold for £89,950.

1990 bought two-bedroom flat for £95,000, sold for £160,000.

1999 bought French house for £90,000, worth around £110,000.

2001 about to buy Birmingham city flat.

If you would like your moves to be featured, email ginetta@dircon.co.uk or write to: Jackie Hunter, Stepping Stones, The Independent, Independent House, 191 Marsh Wall, Isle of Dogs, London E14 9RS

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